Google Pixel phones experiencing "Downloading" notification bug after December update

Google Pixel phones have a poor track record when it comes to hardware. After four generations, one would be forgiven to expect Google to be at the top of its Pixel game at this point in time.

Instead, the search giant’s latest creation, the Pixel 4, is generally seen as the worst in the Pixel series. Furthermore, the Pixel 4 phones haven’t been short of software bugs from time to time.

Here on PiunikaWeb, we’ve highlighted issues like LTE connectivity, broken Motion Sense on YouTube, scanning Freestyle Libre sensors, camera clicking sound, deep sleep bug, and lags when loading apps, settings, and video recording, among others.

Not long ago, we also highlighted the issue where some Google Pixel phones, including the Pixel 4, have a random letter stuck on the screen. That should sum up what you get with Google Pixel software – very polished, but often with bugs that are just hard to fathom.

Besides the random letter/text thingy, several Google Pixel owners are now reporting that a “Downloading” notification appears in the shade even when there is no actual download going on. The notification then disappears after a second or two and reappears after 20 or so minutes.

Apparently, this issue is happening after the latest December security update with the Google Play Music app, although someone else claims they’ve been experiencing this issue for a month on their Pixel 3 XL unit.

After December updated I notice that Google Play Music show notification downloading around 1 to 2 seconds then disappear and it happen so often maybe 20 to 30 minutes it show again and again between that time, I don’t know what it download. I tried to clear cache/data and uninstall update but it can’t help.
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I am getting a notification on my Pixel 3 XL there Google Play Music is Downloading something. Clicking the notification doesn’t do anything. I ended up disabling the Google Play Music app. Anyone else with this issue?
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So far, owners of multiple Google Pixel phones have reported the issue, including the latest Pixel 4 as well as the Pixel 3 and Pixel 2.

Besides Google Play Music app, other affected Google Pixel owners say the issue is also affecting other apps such as WhatsApp, Walgreens, YouTube, and probably more.

I often get this GPM notification, as well as Drive making a file available offline notification. I’ve turned off recent files from automatically downloading for offline use, but it keeps happening. It’s a bit annoying.
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I keep getting that to. Also with the Walgreens app
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Same here but for WhatsApp.
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Same here but for YouTube but i didn’t even download one videos.
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Again, the polished Google Pixel software might be the reason many buy the phones, but such bugs are hard to explain. For now, we can’t be sure how widespread this issue is since the December security update is only beginning to roll out widely.

We will be looking out for a Google response and/or fix and update this post.

NOTE: For more Google-related coverage, check out this section.

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